Joint Review – Cake by Lauren Dane – The Book Pushers | Book Reviews

Publisher: Harlequin
Publish Date: September 15th
How we got this book: NetGalley

She won’t be satisfied with just one bite…

Art student-slash-bike messenger Wren Davis pursues what she wants. And what she wants now is Gregori Ivanov, rock star of the Seattle art scene. With his tattoos, piercings and sensual sneer, Gregori is the ultimate bad boy. Wren’s gotten to know the man beneath the body art, too—and it only makes her crave him more.

But Gregori loves women like he loves cake and champagne—intensely, but only for the moment. And after Wren experiences just how scorching sex with Gregori is, she’s determined to show him that just one taste won’t be enough…
*Blurb from Goodreads*

MinnChica: I adored Dane’s writing, so anytime she puts out anything, I’m all over it. Given the fact that Gregori is tatted, pierced, and has a mohawk, well… I couldn’t put this quick novella down. I adored the romance between these two, and thought that Dane did a fabulous job telling us a sexy and sweet story in only 80 short pages. I have to say though, I really hope that we get to see more from this group of friends!!

E: Oh MinnChica I am there with you! I have been looking forward to reading this since I first heard about it. It was amazing how much Dane managed to pack into this novella. The sense of a long enduring friendship, the flashes of heat, and the struggle to put the past to rest, and seize the future. The fact that Gregori is so very intense made the peace he could find with Wren special and gave him a logical reason to fear losing it. I also hope that we get more set with this group of individuals because they are all characters.

MinnChica: Gregori was super intense, and while I completely understood his reasons behind running scared, I kinda wanted to punch him for it. 🙂 He was so completely wrapped up in his own little world, and his own little pity party, that he wasn’t able to see what he had with Wren. Despite his sexy broody thing, I would have liked him to wake up a bit sooner. But Wren, oh Wren. I liked her so much! She was strong, knew exactly what she wanted, and wasn’t afraid to fight for it. If I could be besties with any book heroine, Wren would be toward the top of that list!

E: I agree, I think he took the coward’s way out and I loved how Wren and his personal assistant Kresley refused to enable his attempts to keep her in a little corner of his life. Each time Wren stood up to Gregori and demanded what she thought she was worth I had to cheer. I also enjoyed how confused he really was when people weren’t just falling in line like he expected because he is “Gregori”. I also really loved how Wren insisted on making her own way into the world of art and refused to use Gregori for his entree. It was another example of how she didn’t need him but wanted to share her life with him. She would also tell him things as she saw them and seeing Gregori think about her insights was amusing. I also thought it was so sweet that Gregori would go out of his way to have some sort of treat to share with Wren because he knew that she liked them. My heart melted when we got the rest of the story because it showed he really wasn’t all that self-centered and oblivious, just scarred from his past.

MinnChica: All in all I really enjoyed this short novella. Gregori was such an intense and loaded character, and Wren was just all around fabulous. Like E said, another thing that endeared her to me was the way she was so determined to make it on her own merit. I thought the romance was good, but I could have used a little more from Gregori, since he really didn’t seem to atone for his constant running. I hope to see more from Dane with this cast of characters.
I give Cake a B+

E: I loved reading this short novella. It was intense, emotional, vivid and satisfying while leaving me wishing for more stories set in this world. The interaction between Gregori, Wren, Kelsey and rest of the supporting cast was a treat to read. Dane has the ability to provide a great story regardless of the length which is an amazing skill. She continues to revalidate with each release why she has a prominent position on my auto-buy list.

I give Cake an A.